College Students Seeking Inspo Turn to Apple

This strategy earns high marks in new commercials

You’re staring at a blank screen around 3 a.m. with a term project due in six hours. Many college students have faced this kind of pressure. So, Apple’s new entry in its “Great Ideas Start Here” platform—with the Mac positioned as the ultimate idea factory—should resonate.

Smuggler directors Jason Sondock and Simon Davis (aka Rubberband) lay on the all-nighter angst pretty thick. Willow Kayne’s “I’ve Got This All Under Control” proves a suitably intense (but ultimately upbeat) soundtrack.

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TBWA\Media Arts Lab developed the campaign, which follows the “Good Ideas” premiere last year. That initiative generated considerable attention for its Jane Goodall voiceover.

Here, the approach feels in tune with its audience, providing both a realistic slice of life and potent product demo. Wisely, the Mac isn’t positioned as a savior or quick-fix. Rather, it’s a tool that helps lead to breakthroughs, a means to end for those willing to put in long hours and test their intellect.

Probably a welcome change from the tech titan’s dark-humored higher-ed spots of recent years that proved somewhat polarizing. (College is creepy enough on its own!)